Dear Joe,

I have just returned from the Vatican after discussing the subject of Dublin. I gave them a memorandum on the lines of yours¹ with which they expressed pleasure and agreement. The need for a person of no ordinary attainments and character is realized as they realize the defects of the last incumbent, owing to ill health. It would be fatal at this stage for me to mention names but I find that Arthur Ryan of Belfast is very highly thought of.² I was told the Nuncio³ was already interesting himself in finding the best man. I think that what he suggests will carry great weight, perhaps decisively so.⁴